|
|
| |
|
|
 |
"In terms of the overall
sector, competition is getting tougher for the share of the throat in
the Middle East.
It's not about water any more, it's about beverages."
This statement from Sherif Saleh, regional marketing manager for
Danone Premium Beverages illustrates the escalating pressure felt by
local and global companies to stand out. |
| Shammas: More education
is needed on a federal level to make local recycling of glass and
plastic a reality. |
|
Category leaders are reacting to the
battle for category space by entering the New Year with a flurry of
category extensions, new formats and marketing campaigns in efforts to
deliver trendy products and capture the attention of shoppers.
Danone launched Hayawiya Natural Mineral
Water in the UAE in December, after its successful debut in Saudi Arabia,
and the brand - to be priced "slightly higher than the mass market - will
be available in 1.5l or 0.5l, in addition to Haywiya with Fruits at 0.33l
with lemon, peach, strawberry and apple varieties.
|
 |
Evian, another success
story in the company's collection, currently ranks as the number one
imported water in the Middle East, and the brand recently topped the
leader board for water in MillwardBrown Optimor's BRANDZ Top 100 Brand Ranking, which involves
interviews with more than a million consumers about almost 40,000
brands worldwide. |
| |
|
|
 |
Saleh attributes Evian's
triumph in the premium segment to it not being "processed water like
many of the other brands in the market but filtered for around 15
years through permeable rocks and coming from the French Alps without
any alteration" and its higher cost price to its "international
standards. |
If we are to compare Evian to other mass market players in the water
business in supermarkets in the UAE, Danone comes third as a company
and Evian comes third as a brand. The brand attracts a "consumer type that
has a certain lifestyle, most of them are well educated, health conscious,
always seeking the latest fashion, extrovert consumers who enjoy life,
have fun and consider Evian an exclusive brand."
A strong social dimension
has been added to the brand through its ongoing support for Ramsar's
protection of wetland areas and Evian Water Protection Institutes.
Saleh reveals the new packaging across all of Evian's SKUs, including the
1.5ltr, 2ltr, 1ltr and 750ml sports cap, is a global change and "more
premium.
In 2007, the company - currently taking 15% value share of supermarkets
and hypermarkets in the UAE - conducted consumer understanding studies
with a series of meetings with 40 consumers in Saudi Arabia and UAE to
talk about likes and dislikes, aspirations, their feelings about the
category.
"The more the consumers go towards
healthy categories and products, the more there will be a market for us,"
he says.
"Pepsi and Coca-Cola are competing by trying to have branded water. The
soft drinks category is shrinking so they need to start seizing shares in
the other growing categories.
The company's concentration on health and novelty spurred the introduction
of Volvic's A Touch of Fruit - the UAE's first flavoured water range - in
March 2006. Saleh says the brand has achieved success "despite another
company coming in and imitating the flavours exactly and selling at half
the price.
"Volvic is still growing and we're doing very good business. When another
player came in, it helped the category and awareness of it to grow.
In-store promotions have bolstered sales significantly for Danone, with a
recent scratch and win card endorsement for Evian with vouchers for
Angsana Spas in the UAE as prizes.
"We keep on feeding our innovation and do things that other brands cannot,
for example we have launched the limited edition Christian Lacroix bottle
for Evian in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Oasis Water was founded as the bottled water division of National Food
Products Company (NFPC), and prides itself on being the first company in
the UAE to launch the water fountain five-gallon bottle and retain an
impressive 75% share. The company also offers four sizes of
recyclable PET
bottles and PET cups in the retail sector.
Sam Shammas, Oasis brand manager and NFPC project manager, enthuses that
the company's feats do not end there.
"Oasis was the first company in the UAE to earn a place in the
International Bottled Water Association, it is also HACCP and ISO 9001
certified. It is also certified by the US-based National Sanitary
Foundation for the distinction in the hygiene practises followed on its
plants.
Al Ain Mineral Water Company's general manager Fasahat Beg is also quick
to point out the 17-year-old firm has "the most modern bottling facilities
in the GCC, lower levels of Total Dissolved Solids than other UAE mineral
waters, and one of the lowest concentrations of sodium on the market.
The company currently has 300 members of staff and a market share of
approximately 40% in Abu Dhabi, where its manufacturing facilities are
based with five filling lines. "We command the second leading position in
the UAE, with a 23 % share of the bottled water market.
The company has opened regional distribution centres in Abu Dhabi,
Al Ain, Sharjah, and most recently in Dubai, and if 2008 proves as hectic as last
year its infrastructure could expand further.
In July, Al Ain Mineral Water responded to the incessant demand for
innovation in the category with an "exciting new brand image in line with
its strategy to broaden its distribution throughout the UAE.
Three months later, Al Ain Mineral Water Company acquired Ice Crystal, a
leading five-gallon local water brand based in Abu Dhabi. The deal ensured
immediate access to the format's home delivery market representing 60% of
total water in the UAE, tipped to double by 2010.
The company launched 4-Kids last month, which "gives children the chance
to identify with a brand through a fun looking, bright and colourful,
kid-oriented pack, while at the same time encouraging them to drink water
throughout the day.
Corporate responsibility has been high on Oasis' priority list, with
frequent sponsorships of sporting events including the Terry Fox Run, an
active schools programmes and the launch of its
www.come2life.com website.
"More education is needed on a federal level to make local recycling of
glass and plastic a reality. We are very active on this level and we are
ready to support anyone who has plans to enhance and sustain the
environment we live in.
|
 |
Beg concedes that
continuing to supply high quality bottled water to an ever-increasing
population in a market where per capita consumption is one of the
highest in the world is currently a serious challenge, as "the levels
of naturally occurring mineral waters in many parts of the UAE have
been depleted. Al Ain's GM
Beg argues that consumer education is not only a challenge,
but also a requirement for all water companies.
"It is in their interests to ensure consumers know what they are consuming
and have a high comfort level that what is being supplied by manufacturers
is of the highest quality standards. |
| Daleh: Evian attracts
well educated, health conscious and fashionable consumers. |
|
Shammas says the deterioration of the water table due to increasing
salination is a major concern for companies taking their water from the
region.
"The UAE and Gulf region have limited natural water resources which are
coming under increasing attack from the population growth and the effect
of global warming," he comments.
Shammas explains that Oasis uses
desalinated water that is passed through a series of filtration steps
followed by Reverse Osmosis and enhanced by adding minerals including
calcium, magnesium and bicarbonates "to give it the refreshing taste," and
says consumers are being ‘green' when choosing locally bottled waters.
Water should be bottled close to the market to minimise the ‘desert miles'
involved in distribution, he argues, as "some of the imported mineral
waters sold here in the UAE" have clocked up considerable mileage.
The mounting interest in "trendy sparkling and flavoured water" among
shoppers triggered the company's launch of its BLU range, now clutching
60% share of the UAE's sparkling water market. Oasis supplies more than
1.5 million litres of water daily from its factories in Abu Dhabi and
Dubai to more than 10,000 retail outlets in the UAE.
"Oasis sources its five-gallon packaging from its sister company
Milco
Plastic, which was originally set up to serve the group and now exports
50% of its production to other Gulf countries and the Far East," he says.
The company has expanded into markets including Afghanistan, Bahrain,
Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman,
Pakistan, Qatar and Syria, aided by
its 800-strong workforce and its fleet of 250 delivery trucks. "We will
continue to expand our product line up and have plans for several new
product launches in the coming year.
Masafi currently employs 40% of the local market share for bottled mineral
water and distributes approximately 20 million cases or 320 million
bottles across the UAE," exclaims its CEO Ashraf Abushady.
The company recently faced up to new rivals in the bulk water segment with
the launch of its four-gallon, non-returnable PET water bottles, and is
confident it will capture 15% of the UAE's sector within the first year of
sales.
The company operates a 250,000 m² bottling and manufacturing facility
capable of producing 34,000 bottles per hour close to the source, several
rich underground springs in Masafi, Ras Al Khaimah.
The biggest challenge that the industry faces is the rising cost of raw
materials. Masafi is addressing this by "being in control of the supply
chain," Abushady adds.
RELATED STORIES
To the ME area related articles published (from the same
source) also on IP
PETrecycling.cz:
Related links on IP PETrecycling.cz in English only:
More articles on IP
PETrecycling.cz:
Articles in archives: 2007
> 2006
> 2005
> 2004
> 2003
> 2002
> 2001 >
2000
|
